The Chase
by theturtlemoves
Summary: Is that what it's all about? Lily thinks so, and thinks that James should save it for the pitch. James thinks that Lily could use a lesson in Quidditch. JPLE ONESHOT. No DH spoilers.


_No spoilers here, kiddies. Just good old fashioned Lily and James fun! They remain my favourite couple from the series, even after the seventh. _

_This one's for Jo, who gave me the inspiration to write again. And again. And again._

**The Chase**

1. The Challenge

'Why not?' James Potter demanded. 'Why won't you go out with me? Give me one good reason.'

Lily Evans looked him up and down, an icy glare in her brilliant green eyes. It was the same old conversation, over and over. Why they couldn't just be friends – after all, they were Head Boy and Girl together, and got along well enough most of the time – she would never understand. He always had to bring it up, and once he did it was impossible to get him to accept 'no' for an answer. Lily had tried everything, but nothing seemed to get the message across.

'I could give you a thousand reasons,' she spat. James rolled his eyes.

'I believe I only asked for one.'

The redhead's temper was reaching boiling point. She took a deep breath, trying to calm herself. He was the only person who could get her riled up like this, the only one who knew exactly how to push her buttons – and it was this, more than anything, that frustrated her to no end. He never listened. No matter what she said, they would still be here next week, having the same argument, because he just didn't know when to quit. Gritting her teeth, she tried not to yell, so as not to disturb the slumbering portraits that lined the walls of the prefects' common room.

'You really want to know, Potter?'

'Really want to know, Evans.'

'Fine.' She glared at him, hating the smug tilt of his eyebrows and the way he lounged so casually in the chair across from her. Deciding to try a different tack this time around, she gestured towards his indifferent posture. '_That's _why. This is all a game to you! It's sport! You don't care about _me_ at all – you're only in it for the chase!'

There was a moment of tension-filled silence and Lily was so angry that she almost didn't notice the change in his expression. When he finally spoke, she got the sense that she had touched a nerve.

'Who told you that?' he asked, a frown etched onto his features. Lily stood her ground.

'Whatever you may think, Potter, I am actually capable of working things out for myself!' she said indignantly. 'Look at you, the way you sit, the way you look at me … I can tell, all right? I've got you figured out. This thing – this _obsession_ – you have with me, it's not about _me_ at all!' One of the portraits frowned and stirred in the corner of Lily's eye – she lowered her voice. 'It's about winning,' she hissed. 'It's about getting something that you've been told you can't have. It's about _conquest_, and as soon as I say yes you'll go off and find a new game to play. Well, this isn't Quidditch, and I'm not your precious bloody quaffle. Save your chasing for the pitch.'

With that, she stood up and set off at a brisk march towards the dormitory. James was left staring into space for a moment, listening to the ringing silence left by her words.

He frowned as he thought.

--

2. The Catch

'In the name of Merlin, where is that boy?' Lily grumbled a few days later, her eyes flashing as she scanned the common room. 'I swear, if he's off causing trouble somewhere when he should be helping me organise tomorrow's prefect meeting; I'll …'

'I don't think he's causing trouble, Lily,' Mary Macdonald said carefully, knowing that it was wise to tread lightly around Lily when James Potter was the topic of conversation. Lily frowned.

'What makes you say that?' she asked.

'Well, his partners in crime are all here,' Mary explained, pointing over to the fireplace where, indeed, Sirius Black, Remus Lupin and Peter Pettigrew were all gathered. Lily frowned more deeply still.

'Maybe they know where he is,' she muttered, almost to herself, as she rose from her seat. Mary sighed.

'Is it that important, Lily? Couldn't you just do it yourself? What's the use in finding James, you'll only get into a fight again and where's that going to get you?'

But Lily hadn't heard; she was already halfway across the room.

'Evans,' Black greeted cordially, as she approached. 'Looking for Jamie, I take it?'

'Yes,' Lily said shortly. 'Don't suppose you know where he is?'

Black pulled a crumpled piece of parchment from his pocket. 'He wanted me to give this to you,' he said, handing it over. Lily unfolded it, curious.

_Evans_, it read.

_Meet me.__ Quidditch pitch. Something to show you. Very important._

_Yours, James._

She frowned.

'The Quidditch pitch? What's so important that he wants to show me out there?'

'Don't ask me, I'm just the messenger,' Black replied with a smirk. 'You might want to dress up warm though, it's a blizzard out there.'

Lily glanced towards the windows, which were a flurry of white flakes. She shivered involuntarily.

'If he thinks I'm going to go and meet him in the middle of a snowstorm …' She muttered, throwing James' note into the fire. Sirius watched it burn for a few moments as Lily turned away, but called her back before she could go too far.

'He said you might do that, you know.'

'Oh _did_ he?' Lily rolled her eyes. 'Brushing up on his Divination, is he?'

'Beats me. Here.' Black thrust another piece of parchment into her hand, this one more crumpled than the first.

_EVANS_

_Seriously, I'm not kidding. Put on a scarf and stop being such a pansy._

_Yours, James._

Lily glared at the scrap of parchment as though it were Potter himself. Then she looked up at Black.

'I suppose if I refuse again, you'll have another note for me?' she asked harshly. Black shook his head.

'However,' he added, his smirk widening, 'he did threaten to stay out on the pitch all night until you came, come rain or snow or even death. Very determined, that man.'

'Tell me about it,' Lily muttered to herself, and then she sighed. 'He really said he'd stay out there all night?'

'Seemed pretty fired up,' Black agreed.

Lily thought about this for a moment. Then balling the parchment in one fist, she gritted her teeth. 'Fine,' she said. 'But this better be a bloody emergency, or he'll be in serious trouble.'

She ran up to her dormitory to get some warm clothes. Remus exchanged a glance with Sirius.

'She isn't going to be impressed when she gets out there,' he said. Sirius laughed.

'Nope. Almost makes you want to brave the weather to witness it, doesn't it?' He glanced towards the window. '_Almost_,' he repeated, shivering.

--

3. The Goal

Lily shivered and pulled her cloak tightly around her body as she trudged through the snow towards the quidditch pitch. She didn't know why she was doing this. She didn't trust Potter as far as she could throw him. However, Merlin knew she couldn't let him sit out in the middle of the pitch all night in a blizzard. Even with Potter, she couldn't bring herself to be that heartless.

'This had better be worth it, Potter,' she grumbled. Water was seeping through her shoes and into her socks, and her robes were already soaked up to her knees. She wasn't sure what Potter wanted, but she knew that if it wasn't a proper emergency she wouldn't hesitate to curse his sorry behind all the way back to Gryffindor tower.

In fact, she thought bitterly as she laboured her way through the snow, perhaps she would curse him anyway, just for being a git about the whole thing.

As she neared the pitch, she squinted though the snowflakes, which were falling more gently here than on the exposed walk up to the castle. She couldn't see anyone.

'Potter!' she called through chattering teeth. 'This better be important, I'm freezing out here!'

There was no answer. Lily wandered into the middle of the pitch.

'Potter!' she called again. 'If this is some sort of trick, I swear you'll pay!'

'No tricks, Evans,' Potter said, as he strode towards her through the snow. He was carrying a large chest under his arm. 'I realised the other night that you have some serious flaws in your magical education which need to be remedied right away.'

Lily narrowed her eyes. 'What on earth are you talking about, Potter?'

He grinned.

'Quidditch, actually,' he said, dropping the chest at her feet. She stared at it.

'Quidditch?' she repeated, as though the word left a nasty taste in her mouth. She knew that he was a maniac for the sport, but this was just ridiculous! 'You dragged me out here to talk to me about _Quidditch_? You said it was important, Potter!'

'It is! I can't work with you if you don't understand the fundamentals of quidditch!'

She sent him what she intended to be a very angry, very _final_ glare, and then turned back towards the warmth and safety of the castle. But before she could take so much as two steps towards the twinkling lights on the hill ahead of her, he was standing in front of her.

'You're out here already, you may as well listen to what I have to say.'

'Potter, I really don't like you enough to stand out here in the snow and listen to you waffle on about Quidditch in some harebrained attempt to win me over. I'll curse you for it later, but right now I can't feel the tip of my nose, so _if _you don't mind –'

She made to push past him, but found to her horror that her feet were stuck to the snow-covered grass of the pitch. She looked up to see Potter holding his wand and smirking.

'Don't you just love these non-verbal spells?' he asked with a wink, as he retrieved his chest from behind her. She dove her gloved hands into her pockets for her wand, but came up with nothing.

'You …'

'Of course, sometimes the muggle way is just as good,' she added with a chuckle, holding up the wand he had pick pocketed. 'Now, since you're just standing there, Evans, maybe you'll let me explain.'

'I swear, Potter,' she muttered as she struggled fiercely against the curse – even though she knew it was useless. 'You will pay for this. You. Will. Pay.'

He opened the chest and pulled out a quaffle. 'I think I'll risk it,' he said, still smiling as he passed the red ball from hand to hand. 'Stop fussing about and I'll start.'

Reluctantly, Lily stopped struggling and stood with her arms folded, her feet still firmly planted on the ground.

'Go, then. You'll have to talk pretty fast to get yourself out of this one.'

Potter grinned.

'The other night you pointed out to me, unintentionally I'm sure, that your working knowledge of the noble sport of warlocks leaves much to be desired.'

Lily shivered as the snow continued to fall. 'Potter, I can't even begin to imagine what you're talking about.'

'It's obvious, isn't it? You said I should save my chasing for the pitch.'

Lily frowned. 'So?'

'Well, it demonstrates that you have no clue whatsoever as to the role of the Chaser on the Quidditch pitch. It's not something I could just let slide, you know.'

Lily resisted the urge to scream at him. No doubt sensing her frustration, Potter's grin became even more pronounced.

'Please start making your point, before we both get frostbite,' Lily muttered through chattering teeth.

'Hold out your hands.'

She did so. Anything to get this torture over and done with quickly.

He handed her the quaffle. 'As you know, this is the quaffle,' he said with infuriating smugness. Lily almost slapped him right in his overly confident face. 'Now, you claim to be unlike the quaffle in any way – but you see, the quaffle, compared to all the other balls, is solid and reliable and moves in predictable patterns. It's also, well … red.' His smile turned slightly sheepish at this comment.

'So you're saying I'm predictable?' Lily demanded hotly, brushing a strand of vivd red hair out of her eyes. Potter just grinned and looked around.

'I got you out here, didn't I?'

Lily opened her mouth, but she had no retort. Instead she settled for fuming silently.

'I see you're not convinced. Hang on.' He went over to the chest again. Lily thought that her toes might be going numb.

Potter came back, holding something in a closed fist. Despite herself, Lily felt her curiosity rise.

'Consider the snitch,' Potter said, opening his fingers a little to allow her a glimpse of gold. 'It's a bit flashier than the quaffle, definitely quicker, and probably more fun to be around.'

Lily narrowed her eyes. 'And who's it supposed to represent, Potter?'

He laughed.

'It doesn't matter, it's fake. Look at it. It's not what it should be. It's metal that's been charmed to think that it's a bird. But it's still just metal, no matter how good the illusion is. Most people think that the snitch is the most glamorous of the balls, but it's not _real_. Not like the quaffle is. Do you see yet?'

Lily raised an eyebrow. 'What about the bludgers? How do they fit into your little metaphor?'

For the first time, Potter frowned. 'Well, they … er … don't, really. Because you'd have to be mad to chase after them.'

Lily fought a smile. Heartened by this, Potter went on.

'So, we've covered the balls. The next point-'

'Just how far does this analogy go, Potter?'

He grinned again. 'The _next_ point,' he repeated, making Lily roll her eyes again, 'is about the Seeker. I was almost made Seeker when I tried out, but I asked to be Chaser instead. Any idea why?'

'More game time to show off?' Lily guessed, thinking that if this went on much longer they would both freeze to death. Potter shook his head.

'Not quite,' he told her, a twinkle in his hazel eyes. 'After all, for all that he doesn't have to do a hell of a lot, the Seeker gets most of the glory, doesn't he? I mean, when you catch the snitch, the game's over, so it's the last thing anyone remembers, isn't it? A Seeker chases the snitch for the whole game …' he released the tiny, struggling ball and watched it for a moment – just before it flew away he caught it deftly in one hand and looked up, but Lily didn't applaud his efforts. Shrugging, he put the golden ball back into his pocket. 'But once you've caught it, that's it: new game – new snitch, even.'

Lily frowned. 'All right …'

'There's no challenge in that, don't you see?' Potter said, and he must have been getting closer to his point, because his words betrayed more and more of his excitement. 'It's just chasing a silly little piece of metal that thinks it's a bird! I mean, what's the point? But the Chasers, that's where the real game is. Because chasing the quaffle is only part of it, you know. You've also got to hold onto it once you've got it. And if you lose it, you just have to go out and try and get it back all over again. Each time, you have to hold onto it long enough to score some points, and the more points you score, the easier it becomes to get hold of it again.'

His eyes were bright through the snow, and Lily finally saw the point that he had been trying to make all along. She smiled.

'All this, to prove that I got my quidditch positions muddled?' she asked, gesturing around at the falling snow and the empty pitch. He shrugged.

'It seemed important that you understand,' he said, his voice suddenly quiet. 'This isn't about the chase, Lily. It's never about the chase. The chase _is_ fun, I'll grant you that.' At this he offered that same sheepish smile from before, which somehow was much more endearing now. 'But all the same, it's not what I'm in it for. It's not even about winning, and it's not because I always want what I can't have. It's about the challenge, and the promise that no matter what I do, that challenge will still be there. You'll continue to challenge me, no matter what. That's what you do. And I will continue to chip away at your defences, because that's what I do. I may never score enough points to win anything, but it isn't going to stop me trying because, really, this is what I live for.'

The snow swirled around them for a moment, but Lily had forgotten her numb feet and the icicles she had been sure were forming under her nose. All she could do was stare at James Potter as though she'd never seen him before – which was sort of the case, really, in a funny kind of way.

'That was a good speech,' she admitted finally. 'And I don't even like sports.'

He laughed.

'I'm glad you enjoyed it. Got any more reasons why you won't go out with me?'

'Can I expect another quidditch analogy in response?'

'Probably.'

It was her turn to laugh. 'If I say no, will you let me out of this damn jinx? I need to thaw.'

He appeared to ponder this for a moment. 'That would depend,' he said pensively, 'on how many points I've scored this round. If it isn't enough for a date, then I might have to hang onto you for a little longer.'

Lily sighed. He really had her cornered on this one, and it _had_ been a very well thought out analogy. Not to mention the fact that she thought she might have already lost her little toe.

'All right, Potter. You win.'

He grinned and offered her wand back. But when she reached for it, he held on, forcing her to look at him. They were very close.

'Say it again,' he said quietly.

'What?'

'Say it.'

Lily shook her head amusedly. 'Oh, all right. _You win_.'

He raised an eyebrow, and she knew what he was waiting for.

'This time,' she added with a laugh. 'You win this time.'

'And you wonder why I love this game,' he said with a smirk, as he finally released her wand.


End file.
